Although sorghum is a drought-tolerant crop, due to climate change, the crop is vulnerable to recurrent drought, resulting in grain yield reduction. To overcome the problem, a few traits were identified that contribute to drought tolerance. However, the response of a few traits to drought stress was ineffective and became a challenge for sorghum production. The study aimed to identify sorghum genotypes with multiple traits that maximize grain yield in drought-stress areas. The sorghum genotypes were assessed on moisture-stressed areas using a row-column design with two replications. High-throughput phenotyping technology was used to screen root and shoot traits, revealing significant variation (p<0.001) in morphological traits, indicating broader genetic variability. The study found high heritability for root angle and root fresh weight traits, which contribute to increased grain yield in drought-prone regions. So the study sought to provide a feasible analytical approach for selecting many traits at once. Therefore, the multi-trait genotype ideotype distance index (MGIDI) was used to identify superior genotypes with multiple traits. Using MGIDI, five potential genotypes were selected to produce at wider acreages in moisture-stressed areas. So the MGIDI demonstrated remarkable efficiency in selecting sorghum genotypes with desirable gains across multiple traits and a suitable approach in sorghum breeding.

Keywords: Drought, Multiple traits, MGIDI, Root traits and Sorghum